Creating confrontation when political understating is the need
The decision by NAB to seek Shahbaz Sharif’s physical remand was unnecessary and unwise and seemingly taken under desperation. The PML-N chief was cooperating with NAB by appearing before its interrogation team whenever summoned. Like other citizens, Shahbaz Sharif is also answerable to law. Few would have objected if the arrest had taken place when NAB was ready to charge him in the court. It shows that the accountability body had failed to gather actionable evidence to seek a sentence of its choice despite the investigation in Ashiana Housing scam having started almost a year back. NAB’s failure led it to resort to harsh measures to force Shahbaz to cooperate in the way desired by the NAB, in other words to “confess”.
The attempt to employ psychological pressures is now the last resort of an incompetent accountability body. The least the 10 day remand implies is solitary confinement. Psychological pressures during the NAB custody include the knowledge that the interrogators can start their questioning at any time of the day or night they desire, continue the sessions as long as they want and that they can be rude and insulting. The treatment meted out to Ahad Cheema is enough to convey the message that the period of humiliating treatment can be extended several times.
The arrest has been condemned by the PML-N and other opposition parties. Khursheed Shah and Asfandyar Wali warned the government to avoid political victimisation and arm-twisting of the opposition parties which is not good for the system. A delegation led by PML-N called on the National Assembly Speaker asking him to convene a session of the lower house to debate the matter.
Meanwhile a large number of PML-N workers have put up a show of solidarity with Shahbaz Sharif outside the accountability court. Street protests have never been the PMLN’s forte so it is difficult to predict whether it was a one-time affair or a long term one. What remains clear is that Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest has added much to the prevailing political tension at a time when the government’s austerity measures required political consensus and understanding between the government and the opposition.